Rosalia Festival

Each year, Budapest jumps the gun on summer over a weekend in May for the Rosalia Festival.

Created by the organizers of September's wine festival, it's Hungary's only event dedicated to celebrating rosé wine, as well as champagne and sparkling wines.

Taking place over three days, it features a Rosé Garden, tastings, jazz concerts, Hungarian food stalls and special events for children.

Dates: May 31 to June 2, 2019

Sziget Festival

One of the biggest music festivals in Europe — Sziget Festival takes place every August.

Attila Kisbenedek/AFP/Getty Images

For more than 25 years, the week-long Sziget Festival has been taking over the Danube river island of Óbudai-sziget every August, showcasing more than 1,000 performers and drawing tens of thousands of people from all over the world.

Revelers soak up the lively ambience as dance artists put on theatrical performances on the site and everyone goes for a dip in the Danube along the sandy beach.

Dates: Aug 1 to 13, 2019

Budapest Summer Festival

Held throughout June, July and August, the Budapest Summer Festival brings some of the world's top classical musicians and ballet dancers to Margaret Island, located in the heart of Budapest.

There's a varied program of opera, ballet and classical music — with a bit of jazz and pop thrown in for good measure — most of which takes place in the enchanting setting of the Margaret Island Open-Air Stage.

Look out for the performances held in the open-air stage set up in the shadow of Margaret Island's historic water tower.

Budapest Fish Festival

Hungarians spend the winter months keeping warm with a dish called halászlé — a red hot fisherman's soup brimming with paprika and river fish.

When early March comes round, many head to the three-day Budapest Fish Festival to feast on this spicy dish and plenty of other types of fish.

Heroes' Square is the setting for cooking contests, wine tastings, folklore music and fun for the kids — not to mention stall after stall of mouthwatering dishes.

Dates: March 2, to 4, 2019

Budapest Fish Festival, Heroes' Square, Budapest, Hősök tere, 1146

Danube Carnival

The Margaret Island Open-Air Stage and a host of other open-air venues around the Danube become filled with color during this week-long festival of folk dance in June.

Several hundred international dancers and musicians bring their own cultural sounds and dances to mingle with traditional Hungarian styles at the annual event.

The Carnival Parade that goes along the Danube Promenade to Vorosmarty Square is one of the festival's main highlights.

Dates: TBC

Festival of Folk Arts

Festival of Folk Arts brings top Hungarian craftsmen to Buda Castle.

Janos Peter photography

Craftspeople from all around Hungary descend on Buda Castle every August for a three-day celebration of crafts made in the country for hundreds of years.

Visitors can take part in workshops and watch the experts in action as they spin, weave, carve, paint, demonstrating skills that have been handed down over the generations.

The festival includes folk dances and performances and — this being Hungary — plenty of food stalls offering delectable traditional food and drink.

As the event falls during the festivities to mark St. Stephen's Day on August 20, which include food stalls along the Danube Promenade, concerts and spectacular fireworks, those in town during this period will have the opportunity to experience both.

Dates: August 18 to 21, 2019

Palinka and Sausage Festival

When the weather starts to cool down in the city in October, it's time to keep warm with glasses of Hungarian brandy — known as palinka.

The Palinka and Sausage Festival, held in Castle Hill over three days in early October boasts several distillers of the spirit, while the region's sausage makers are on hand with the perfect snacks to soak up all that brandy.

You can sample the many different flavors of palinka while wandering from stall to stall at this quirky Hungarian gastronomic event.

Dates: October 2 to 4, 2019

Palinka and Sausage Festival, Castle Hill, Budapest

Budapest Spring Festival

Budapest Spring Festival features live music, dance and theatre shows held in venues across the city.

Attila Kisbenedek/AFP/Getty Images

As if Budapest's cultural calendar wasn't busy enough, there's also the Budapest Spring Festival in April — a city wide celebration of music and the arts.

Here a series of classical concerts are held in venues all around the city over a 17-day period.

Visitors can combine their music appreciation with visual arts during the Budapest Art Week, which occurs simultaneously, as well as workshops, film screenings and exhibitions in nearly 70 locations.

Dates: April 5 to 22, 2019

Budapest Spring Festival, Budapest

Downtown Beer Festival

Visitors can try the latest Hungarian beer specialities at this summer event.

Courtesy Belvárosi Sörfesztivál

While Hungarian wine and palinka have been getting all the attention, a quiet beer revolution has been brewing in the country as well.

More than 60 microbreweries from around Hungary set up shop in City Park over three days in June and show off their latest concoctions and flavors.

Attendees can taste beers from guest breweries from Bavaria and the Czech Republic and sample the food on offer from its street food fair.